


Shoes

by goldenstarfc (aceattornerd)



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-29
Updated: 2014-01-23
Packaged: 2017-12-13 07:39:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/821717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceattornerd/pseuds/goldenstarfc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim Moriarty and Carl Powers- the nerds. Sebastian Moran- the cool kid. The three- some of the world's closest friends. But things were about to change, and nobody would have a clue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Noteworthy

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so sorry for the cliché stupid crap summary like seriously my deepest apologies. Um, so, yeah, will eventually be mormor, will eventually have Carl's death. So that's something to look forward to, I guess. The characters are going to be a bit older than eleven, just as a prior warning- exact age is to be determined, though I'm going to say that until further notice they're all somewhere near the beginning of high school? Also, yeah, there will be inconsistencies with original work, blah blah blah. Anyway, enjoy.

The most popular kid in the school was, as everyone knew, Sebastian Moran. Something nobody knew? Why the kid bothered with Jim Moriarty and Carl Powers. The pair was the textbook definition of ‘nerd’, while Sebastian was that of ‘cool’. Sebastian was extremely athletic, and had such a presence when he entered a room that everyone knew ‘hey, that kid’s a big deal.’ He had a ‘don’t-care’ attitude, and still managed to keep his grades no lower than a B. He cracked jokes in every class, but he didn’t pick on anyone- the closest he ever got was lighthearted teasing. Yeah, that was cool.

Jim and Carl, however... well, Jim was smart. Really smart. But being a straight A student at Claycrest Middle School was not necessarily a good thing. It essentially screamed, ‘hey, look who’s a teacher’s pet! Hey, look who tries too hard!’ Jim hardly even talked, always thinking about this, that, or the other thing.

Then you had Carl. Now, while getting straight As isn’t cool, that didn’t mean getting all Fs was, either. All Fs meant, ‘wow, look who’s stupid.’ All Fs meant you were an idiot and you were hopeless. Carl was the kid that was always babbling on about his limited edition action figures and comic books. He had rectangular, metal glasses that always slid down his nose- worse, they were transition lenses- and even his name seemed to scream ‘nerd’. You could only find the pair eating in the cafeteria at lunch on a rare occasion- more often than not, they would be in the computer lab, just messing around with the computers.

It was one of those rare days that Carl and Jim were in the cafeteria. Carl blabbing on about some nerdy thing that Jim couldn’t honestly care less about. Jim didn’t even like Carl, he just tolerated him because he was practically the only person who liked Jim. Sebastian sauntered over to the pair, shoving Carl to the side so that he was seated between the two. "Hey, Jim; Carl," he greeted, flashing Carl a quick smile before grinning over at Jim. "What are you guys talking about?"

Jim gave a pointed shrug, and Carl- who mouth had been his mouth open to answer- closed it, glancing down. The pecking order of the three boys was obvious- Sebastian was in charge, and Jim his second-in-command. Carl was sort of there just to be there.

"Hey, Jim, you know Sally?" Seb asked, beaming.

Jim took a moment to rack his brain. "Oh, her? Yeah, what about her?"

"She was just hitting on me earlier. But you know what that means? She's single. You should try to get her interested," he suggested, smirking. Sally was full of herself, the girl who would walked around in a skimpy tank top and miniskirt that violated the dress code whenever there weren't teachers around, and managed to fix her outfit and make it barely acceptable when there were. If Jim even was interested in a relationship, it wouldn't be in one with her.

"No, Seb, I... No, I don't even like her like that," he replied in a slight mutter. "I don't even think she's cute or anything."

"So? She's kind of cool. Dating her would seriously boost your popularity. Maybe you could actually sit with me at my table without everyone looking daggers at you," he pointed out.

"Listen Seb, I hardly even eat in the cafeteria anyway. It's fine.”

If Jim didn’t know any better, he’d assume that his comment had offended- or even hurt- Sebastian. But of course, his usual response, ‘Jim, stop being ridiculous, this is Sebastian Moran,’ echoed through his mind, and he brushed away the assumptions without a second thought.

“Jim, no offense or anything, but don’t you want to be cool? Hardly anyone likes you,” the boy replied straightforwardly, frowning slightly and not sugar-coating anything. “I mean, I think you’re pretty cool, but nobody else’ll give you a second thought. Not, anyway, until you do something daring; something noteworthy.”

Now, unlike most people, Jim could clearly pick out the meaning behind Seb’s words. Not, ‘hey, Jim, even I think you’re a loser,’ or, ‘you’re not cool enough,’ but he had a drive behind what he said, and it was obviously caring. He hadn’t spoken to be mean or to convey that he didn’t really want to hang around with ‘losers’ anymore. Heck, even, ‘I want you to be cooler because it’ll make me look even better than I already do,’ wasn’t even close. It was more like, ‘Jim, I like you as you are, but being ‘cool’ is really fun, and I think that you would like it and deserve to be part of it. Here’s some advice to get you there,’ and that was something that Jim really, really appreciated.

“I will, then,” Jim firmly replied. “Do something daring and noteworthy. But that something is not dating Sally Donovan.”

“Your call, mate,” Sebastian responded. “Maybe you should try sports, then. I hear swim team’s coming up next quarter. If you get practicing now, you could be pretty good by tryouts. Not my type of sport- luckily for you- but it’s pretty easy to get the hang of and a good workout.”

Jim shrugged, which, essentially, meant ‘no.’

 

\------------

 

**Hey, Jim. CP**

_Sent at 3:57 PM_

 

**Hey, Carl. Done with HW? JM**

_Sent at 3:58 PM_

 

**Yeah, but, ah, I can't come over. CP**

_Sent at 4:00 PM_

 

**Why? JM**

_Sent at 4:00 PM_

 

**Taking Seb's advice. CP**

_Sent at 4:02 PM_

 

**What? JM**

_Sent at 4:02 PM_

 

**Swimming. CP**

_Sent at 4:03 PM_

 

Jim stared at his phone for a moment. Well, that was surprising. Carl was a chubby kid, and Jim couldn’t see him in any kind of sport. Besides, the suggestion had been aimed at him, not Carl. But, whatever. Not like he cared. Though, the thing Jim did care about? The fact that Carl just would completely blow him off for it.


	2. Tryouts

Over the next couple months, Carl went swimming almost every day, improving his diet gradually. By the time next quarter came around, even Jim and Seb noticed he was losing weight.

"Tryouts are today," Carl told Jim, as the pair headed into the cafeteria.

"I know," Jim answered, flashing the other a smile.

"You gonna watch?" Carl was shaking slightly as he returned Jim's smile with a grin.

"'Course. Seb is coming, too," Jim informed.

Carl's grin widened, and he looked happier than a kid in a candy shop on Christmas morning. Or perhaps even more so than a teenage girl in a mall where everything was free. "Really? He is?" He half-yelled, and Jim couldn't help but grin at his excitement.

"Yeah. We're your best friends, Carl; we wouldn't dream of missing it."

Jim stood next to Sebastian later that evening, watching Carl glide almost effortlessly through the water. He was still a bit chubby, sure, but he was pretty fast regardless.

"You should've tried, too, Jim. If you'd practiced with him, you'd probably have a six-pack," Seb commented under his breath as he watched Carl. Jim shrugged in response, electing not to reply.

As soon as Carl's tryouts were over and the boy had pulled himself out of the pool, Seb raised hid hand to give him a high-five. Water was still dripping off of him as he reached a hand up to slap Sebs, before wrapping Jim in a hug. After standing awkwardly for a moment while his mind went to war with itself, Jim returned the hug, somehow making the situation even more uncomfortable.

"Good job, Carl," he said with a smile.

"Yeah; I'd be surprised if you didn't make the team," Seb put in. He was grinning at Carl, a look of uncontrollable excitement in his eyes, now spreading across his entire face, and Jim couldn't help but stare. He'd never seen an expression quite like that one on Seb the entire time the pair had known each other.

_'God, I'd_ kill _for him to grin at me like that,'_ Jim found himself thinking, before mentally slapping himself. He had known he was weird, but he wasn't a psychopath. Jim Moriarty was sane enough to know he'd never make Sebastian Moran that proud.

Besides, at some point, Seb had stopped grinning at Carl, instead turning his attentions towards a few girls in bikinis- fairly skimpy bikinis, mind you. And he'd been staring long enough that they were giggling and standing somewhat suggestively. And of course, Seb was winking and chuckling slightly- being flirtatious in any way possible without actually speaking- as he stared.

"Jim; Carl, either of you need a ride home?" He asked the pair after a moment, finally turning back to the both of them.

"Nah, my mom's picking me up," Carl replied, while Jim simply shook his head. He lived fairly close, and if he could catch a bus or a cab, he'd be home fast enough.

"Well, see you guys around, then," he replied, walking out. Jim followed soon after, pulling out a pencil and a spare sheet of notebook paper. He titled it, "Daring and Noteworthy Things I Can do to Get Seb's Attention." Jim couldn't think of a word to write. He sat there for a while, chewing on the end of his pencil as he thought, waiting for a bus to stop, or a free cab to drive by, or, well, something.

Jim hailed a cab not long afterwards, without a single addition to his paper. Maybe fifteen minutes later, he climbed out at his house after paying the cabbie, and still no ideas were listed. An hour in his bedroom passed, filled with intense thinking, and yet not a single new word was scrawled unto the page. With a frustrated sigh, Jim pinned the paper to the wall above his bed. He'd think of something, someday, and write it down. Eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> really really short i know, next chapter should be longer


	3. Change

Carl asked out Sally Donovan. She said yes. Seb was impressed. Carl was fit and popular. He always ate lunch with Seb. Jim still ate in the computer lab. He avoided the cafeteria at all costs. He was certain that nobody liked him. Not even Carl. Especially not Seb. Jim's list was still blank. Carl kept texting him things like 'hey, u should join the bball team'. No grammar, bad spelling- and what was 'bball' supposed to mean? Baseball, basketball, what? Regardless, Jim hated Carl's new-found popularity and how it was getting to his head. What he hadn't noticed was that Seb could tell.

"Moriarty!" Sebastian called through the throng of students in the hallway, and Jim, recognizing his voice immediately, spun around.

"Hey, Sebastian! need anything?" He replied.

"Meet me outside at lunch, by the big tree?"

"Sure," had been Jim's response, before he ducked into his next classroom. Now he was begrudgingly seated at the base of the three, tearing bites from his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He didn't even like peanut butter and jelly. Though, lately, he wasn't liking a lot of things, and he hardly noticed Seb plop down beside him.

"So, I haven't been seeing much of you around lately," he commented after a moment.

"You're right," Jim replied simply. And the average person would have thought nothing of it. But Seb? He was not 'the average person,' and he could tell that Jim was upset.

"Is this about Carl?" He asked. Jim thought for a short while, before giving a nod. "You don't think that since he's 'popular' or whatever, I prefer him." Jim didn't respond, and by the look on his face, Seb knew that was exactly what it was. "I don't, you know. Just because he's a swimmer now doesn't make him better, Jim, I swear. You're still just as much my friend as he is. I promise, Jim, nothing's changed in my eyes." And while that wasn't quite perfect, not exactly what he wanted... it was enough for Jim. After all, it was more than he had dared to hope for. The two boys just sat and ate their food in an appreciative silence the rest of the period, not even knowing that their conversation wasn't as private as they had thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, definitely not proud of the length of this one. I absolutely wish it could have been longer and a touch more interesting, but there really wasn't much I could do with this. Next chapter will hopefully be a lot of both: lengthy and attention-catching!


	4. Threats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a new POV here- won't happen very frequently, only when I believe it necessary.

Carl really, truly hated it when he had to spy on his lovely Sebastian. Or, he supposed, _not_ his Sebastian, as it seemed all his efforts had gone to waste, and the blond really did seem to care about Jim more, despite how hard Carl had been trying. And not only had he been trying to get on Sebastian's good side, but he'd been trying to keep Jim around, too! Perhaps it was because it made him seem nice, or maybe because he felt he could outshine Jim better if the other was trying and failing, but Carl had never been able to stop himself before the urge to offer the brunet unprompted advice kicked in. And after all that, there he was, still talking to Sebastian, and clearly, _clearly_ trying to steal him right from Carl's fingertips.

That wouldn't be so easy.

No, Carl wasn't going to let Jim Moriarty get away with that. Sebastian he could forgive- after all, it was in Sebastian's nature to be kind. Carl had known _that_ from the start. And he assumed that Jim, the nasty little bugger he was, was probably just manipulating Seb into caring. Right? Right. That was the only way. That was the only way that Jim'd ever get more attention than Carl ever again. Because Carl was important, now. And feeling important was wonderful.

"Carl?" He heard Sally call from... elsewhere. He had better go before she got too worried. because the first people she'd go to would be Jim and Sebastian. He didn't want them knowing that he was nowhere to be found. They were smart. They would find him. He slipped quietly from his bush, before heading off to find Sally.

The rest of his lunch was uneventful. Chatting with people who still think they're better than Carl- maybe they'll never learn. But someday Carl'd be the talk of the school, if he had anything to do with it. Someday he might be Sebastian Moran's boyfriend. Someday he'd be the best. They just couldn't see it yet. But, oh, Carl could.

After school, Carl got lucky enough to run into Jim. "Hey, Jim, how are you?" He asked, faking friendliness. Like Jim even deserved his friendliness anymore. He wasn't worth it. But he needed his attention.

"Oh, I'm fine. You?" Jim replied, looking in the direction of the exit. Carl guessed he probably wanted to get home.

"Great, yeah- but, um, would you have time to talk? We've just been so out of sync, lately, and, well, you know, I thought we could... catch up, maybe? Any chance you could drop by my house in a bit?" He asked, adjusting his glasses and offering a hopeful smile. That type of thing had always-

"... yeah, I can do that. See you later, Carl."

\- worked. "Yep! Bye, Jim! See you!"

Oh, how little Jim knew.

Jim didn't seem all too worried as Carl's mother let him into the house, and all the while Carl was watching him, eager to see him squirm in just a moment.

"It's so nice to see you, again, Jim! Carl's missed you, you know- he loves his knew friends, but none of them are anything close to what you were. He still talks to Sebastian, of course, he's been over a time or two- did you know that he has a girlfriend? Sally, I think- she's a wonderful girl..." Jim hates his mother, Carl remembered that much. That was one thing the boys had in common. That, and Seb.

"That's enough, Mum," Carl stated with a groan. "Jim and I will be in my room; come on, Jim."

Jim followed Carl to his room, and had opened his mouth to speak, but Carl was faster, hissing into Jim's ear before he himself even knew what he was going to say. "I know what you're trying to do, Moriarty, and I'll tell you that it's not going to work. I know you think you're Sebastian's best friend, but that is going to _change_ , you hear me? I worked hard to win him over, and I won't have you undoing that. Sebastian Moran is going to be _my_ best friend, got it? He's _mine_ , and I will go to _any lengths_ to stop you from trying to steal him away from me."

Jim looked utterly shocked. "Carl, I don't know what-"

"You know perfectly well. Don't lie to me. The consequences will be dire." He had read that somewhere. It sounded... ominous, if that was the correct word.

"Carl, just calm down, please. I'm not trying to do anything, but if Seb prefers my company over yours-"

"He won't. Not when I'm done," Carl stated. He couldn't have Seb preferring Jim. He couldn't have Jim tricking Seb into thinking he liked him more. He couldn't have Jim Moriarty ruining his life. He'd stop that at all costs.

"Carl, really, if you're trying to threaten me-" exactly what he was trying to do- "it's not working. I'm not going to entirely cut off my friendship with Seb. And, sorry to say, but there's absolutely nothing you could do about it. And if you keep threatening me, I _will_ let someone know."

"Okay, I understand," _that you can't be reasoned with._ "I'm sorry," _for trying to give you another chance._ "I won't do it again." _No, no more threats. Only actions._ After a pause, Carl added, "tea?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally satisfied with the length of this one! Back to Jim next chapter, I promise.


End file.
